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> Big companies don't have to have regional subsidiaries any more. [...] In the US, government hasn't really gotten into this in a big way. It is a mistake to
by uabstraction 8y ago
> Big companies don't have to have regional subsidiaries any more. [...] In the US, government hasn't really gotten into this in a big way.
It is a mistake to assume that the solution which works in industry is equally applicable in government. Businesses and governments are very different institutions. They have different missions, different stakeholders, different legal obligations, and different responsibilities.
Surely, things would be more efficient if we just had one large uniform, monolithic state institution, but a (small R) republican state cannot exist without extensive delegation. It is only though the process of delegating power to states, counties and municipalities, that we can even attempt to execute the will of the people.
This all comes with tons of redundant infrastructure - thousands of city councils, mayors, police departments, courts, and school systems. 50 governors, 50 state cabinets, 50 independent boards of elections, 50 different state legislatures - but each community has its own needs and its own ambitions, and nobody knows those needs better than the community itself.
- Nasrudith 8y agoThe main issue I have seen with the smaller divisions is that they manage to do thing worse while not providing any true accountability because they are too small to be watched effectively and lack the oversight infrastructure of larger organizations - which is really saying something given how infamously ineffectual the watchers are at watching themselves.
- Animats 8y agoThat's the US. Many countries have much more centralized governments. French and Japanese public schools are run by the national government and are highly standardized. Germany and Switzerland, on the other hand, have powerful regional governments.